Sheep Ranch

The property that became Sheep Ranch was so windswept that a 1970s wind farm built on the site failed because the windmills couldn't withstand the gusts. Mike Keiser bought the land in 2000 for $4 million, recognizing what the wind farm developers missed: this was some of the most extraordinary links terrain on Earth. It took two decades and the right architects to bring it to life.

Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw made two bold decisions that define the course. First, no sand bunkers — the wind would have emptied them within days. Instead, approximately 20 grassy hollows and depressions create strategic hazards that feel organic to the landscape. Second, they maximized ocean frontage by threading every hole along or toward the coastline, ensuring that there isn't a single spot on the course where you can't see, hear, or feel the Pacific.

The opening hole — a 549-yard par-5 with a downhill approach framed by a lone ghost tree — is widely considered the best opening hole at the resort. The 16th, a short par-3 on Five-Mile Point with its green perched on the cliff edge and the entire Pacific as backdrop, is the consensus signature. And the stretch from 15 through 17 delivers the most dramatic and wind-exposed finishing sequence at Bandon. Despite its wild character, Sheep Ranch is the easiest course at Bandon to walk — at just 140 acres, it has the smallest footprint and shortest green-to-tee transitions of any championship course on the property.